'Rampage' (2018; PG-13): A Rip-roaring Fun Ride

I returned to the rip-roaring fun ride that is 'Rampage' (2018), the other night. I hadn't watched it in a little over a year. I am writing about it, at length, for the first time.

Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) is a jaded primatologist working at the San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary. He has a strong bond with George, an albino gorilla that he rescued from poachers, when he was but an infant. Davis is ex-military, and has fought many battles and seen the horrors that man is capable of, and has conequently developed a general mistrust of people. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) is a grieving, justice-seeking geneticist whose brother died from cancer, when her former employer, Energyne, took her revolutionary genetic work (which could have saved her brother) from her, weaponised it, and fired her. Kate is on a mission to bring her former employers, Claire and Bret Wyden (Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy, respectively), to justice. When Energyne's space-based research lab explodes, and weaponised genetic research samples wind up in three different parts of the U.S., causing Davis' gorilla friend George, a wolf and an alligator, to spontaneosly mutate and grow into giant, raging and destructive animals, Davis' and Kate's paths cross. Davis needs to get George back to normal, and Kate sees the whole mess as an opportunity to finally expose Energyne, but the two get roped into stopping the giant animals from killing masses of people and flattening whole cities, too.
 

One of the things that struck me when I watched 'Rampage' for the first time, was that it was a big budget movie with two 'people of colour' in the lead roles, Johnson and Harris. Granted, after the uproarious triumph of 'Black Panther', whose cast was nearly all-Black, this might not seem like something to point out. But it's SOMETHING. The other thing was that two actors, Jeffery Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman, who played the Comedian and Silk Spectre II, respectively, in 'Watchmen' (2009), were sharing the screen again, here.
 

Johnson carries this film quite impressively; he obviously has strong screen presence, built as he is, but he also lends Davis Okoye, a strength and vulnerability of spirit, that is a pleasure to see. Kate Caldwell's (Naomi Harris) smarts, brains-over-brawn approach, and feminine energy, are the perfect counterpoint to Okoye's hulking, macho brute. Jeffery Dean Morgan's Agent Russell, the 'cowboy' with a southern drawl, is fun to watch. He calls a helicopter a "whirlybird", which sounds funny when said in his unique cadence. Malin Akerman, whom I discovered in Zack Snyder's 'Watchmen', is also a pleasure to watch; you like to dislike her villainess, Claire Wyden. Claire is daring, diabolical, confident and competent; quite unlike her bungling, cowardly brother Brett Wyden (Jake Lacy), and this makes for humorous interactions between them.
 

Okoye and George's relationship is quite a joy to behold. It has a strength, depth, seriousness, and light-heartedness, that is fascinating to watch. It's all set up seemingly effortlessly; it didn't take me long, and with little backstory, to see and appreciate the strong bond between Okoye and George; a real, human actor, and a computer-generated character, albeit anchored on a human stand-in. This beautiful pairing of a real human and a virtual creature, isn't new; it's been done successfully in many movies past. But that doesn't dimish its specialness here. It's a triumph of directing, writing, acting, animation and cinematography; of filmic execution.
 

I like how the end credits graphics are cleverly inspired by, for lack of a better term, genetic sequencing strips. There's a great deal of product placement in this film, some of which I probably missed. Much of it was probably so sneakily done that it went undetected by my conscious mind. I noticed the Microsoft tablet that Claire and Brett use, in their skyscraper office; Okoye's Jeep-like 2004 Ford Bronco concept vehicle; the large flat-screen TV that Kate watches the 'space accident' news piece on; the Black Hawk helicopter that delivers the wolf-hunting crew to their destination, and the various assault rifles the crew uses; the downed Apache attack helicopter that Okoye fires at the giant alligator from (I'm reminded of that National Geographic 'Megafactories' episode, that focuses on the manufacture of Apache attack helicopters); the Northrup Grumman B2 Spirit stealth bomber that ends up not delivering its payload, the 'Mother Of All Bombs' (MOAB), and the two fighters that accompany it; and so on. I wonder whether the huge brands (Ford, Microsoft, Sikorsky Aircraft, Colt Firearms etc.) that advertised their wares in this movie, had any say in the content of the movie; shaped its story in some way(s).
 

I like Kid Cudi's 'The Rage' which plays over the end credits. The rhythm of Cudi's rapping, and the percussion that accompanies it, are absolutely brilliant. He's quite talented. I'm not so enthusiastic about the chorus though; it doesn't quite gel with the verses; it feels alien to the rest of the song; it feels as though it was ripped from a different song and shoehorned into this one. Having said that though, the chorus is, at the same time, somewhat appealing. This is the second well-crafted song I've come across, that Cudi has contributed to a video game-inspired movie; the first is 'Hero', which he made with Skylar Grey, for 2014's 'Need for Speed', which he also acted in. Is it mere coincidence that he's made songs for two video game-related movies? I suspect otherwise.
 

Andrew Lockington's score is brilliant. He composes beautifully for both, big action sequences and quiet 'character-driven' moments. The track 'Gorillas', which we hear in the early moments of the film, is a sublime piece, with ethereal choral voices.
 

There's a hugely satisfying primal/primeval/primordial/visceral/lizard brain appeal in seeing giant creatures destroying giant buildings, and each other. 'Rampage' wouldn't be the enjoyable movie that it is, without the giant, berserking gorilla, wolf, and alligator. They are literally the stars of the show. George most of all though. The action, score, and sometimes risque humour, are a great deal of fun. This movie is also beautifully poignant in some instances.
 

'Rampage' is definitely worth checking out.

Remembering 'The Glimmer Man'

 

I watched the Steven Seagal and Keenen Ivory Wayans movie 'The Glimmer Man' (1996), at the cinema (Elite 400, in Bulawayo), about 22 years ago. That was the last time I watched it. To this day, I remember a scene where Seagal and Wayans go into a small, dimly lit alternative medicine store in Chinatown, following a lead in their investigation. An old Chinese woman running the store, offers ginseng to Wayans, in Chinese, and Wayans says to her, sort of jokingly, "Do you know I'm black? I have no idea what you’re saying". I had to look up that bit of dialogue to make sure that there actually was something of the sort. I had it in my memory as "Does she know I'm black?" That would have been Wayans talking to Seagal. This scene is just about the only one I remember somewhat clearly. I'm not sure why; perhaps it's the comedic element in it; perhaps humour, even subtle humour, makes us remember things a little better. Another thing I remember about 'The Glimmer Man' is how intensely atmospheric it was. There was something about its cinematography that stood out, I can't describe it though, as it's been such a long time.

I think I explored more back then, than I do now. I could go to a movie I'd never heard of and have a good time, even if the movie itself was awful. The theatrical experience, taking in a movie projected on film, the medium it was shot on, was sheer magic. The experience of sitting in the dark, in an optically and acoustically controlled space, and looking at huge images flickering before me, was enough. I think I've lost that innocence. I've become very calculated in my viewing. I follow certain directors' work; I seldom go to movies (especially not since COVID-19 started) or pick up a movie, on a whim. Perhaps there's a way to recapture that innocence. I don't know. But I digress.

I've just had a noteworthy thought, so I'll continue digressing, bear with me. Perhaps the theatrical experience isn't quite what it was before, for me anyway, not because of something as abstract as losing one's innocence, but because of a shift in technology. Du-uh! Nowadays most, if not all movies, are photographed and projected digitally, as opposed to being shot on actual film, and projected on film. Because I swear, taking in a movie, in a theatre, in the '90s, had a visual and aural ambience, that you don't get today. I strongly suspect that that shift from film to digital is what changed everything for me; what my senses picked up on. I'm not knocking digital, it works, but film has a feel that is all its own. For the first time, I think I'm starting to understand why filmmaker Christopher Nolan insists on shooting on film. End of digression.

Wayans' wisecrack in 'The Glimmer Man' is etched in my memory.

Note: Take 99% of the filmic reminiscence above, with a grain of salt. To borrow from Neil Gaiman, memory is gloriously fallible. Plus, I didn't watch the movie discussed, to verify my recollection of it. "Why?" You might ask. Well, perhaps to preserve the purity of this particular memory, errors and all.